DANNY C. SILLADA: A FILIPINO RENAISSANCE MAN(A 2006 Research Paper on the Life & Works of Danny Castillones Sillada, University of Asia and the Pacific)

By Michael Marlowe Uy and Katrina Kalaw

DANNY CASTILLONES SILLADA is the embodiment of a Filipino who defies the existing trend. His multi-faceted attribute in the humanities, as a Renaissance man, is identical with those of well-rounded historical figures during the Renaissance period in Europe. Sillada is a visual artist recognized in the Philippine art scene for his paintings and installation artworks, a literary writer who is into prose and poetry, a philosopher, whose writings are akin with existentialism, a first-rate performance artist, and also an art-critic.________________________________

I. INTRODUCTION

A precise way to identify the role that art plays in our lives is not easy. Yet, art, like all artifacts, is essentially indispensable in our social, cultural, and individual life. A study of the relationships between art and cognition is a necessary step toward the understanding of artistic phenomena and artifacts. A variety of possible outcome can emerge out of the interaction between the artistic phenomenon and the critical approaches applied to it.

The study of artistic artifacts considered as cognitive products can give us access to mechanisms of the mind, which is unnoticeable in normal appreciation. The study of mechanisms that form the background to artistic practices can enable us to bring into focus some philosophical problems: for instance, the question regarding the definition of a work of art and its condition of identity. The study of critical approaches allows one to clarify and eventually solve the problem of the unity of artistic output.

When one speaks of theories applied to art, often the perception that comes to mind is a dichromatic diagram: in one box is the artist's mind and in another, the perception of an observer. This diagram rationalizes and, perhaps, illustrates a general perception regarding the function of cognitive judgment and the ontological meaning of art as a creative expression. Through his work, the artist reveals his "message" to the audience and the audience reconstructs what the artist meant in his work. The audience’s task as an interpreter who observes a work of art must decipher what the artist has just revealed.

The critical approaches or theories in studying artworks are surely a rational activity. However, more than that, it develops a completely new dimension and a broader perspective on the artistic phenomenon under question. Theories explain the unity of the work of art from its diverse manifestations. They explain why works of art are admired by people who know little about the history of art, why they survive the test of time (how is it possible to admire works, whose message can no longer be reconstructed?). They explain why artists create their works and how the label is applied based on their intention and style. But what purpose would it serve, given that the works already expressed what the artists intended to say? Or does it?

Consequently, these theories or critical approaches explain why artistic artifacts are able to survive through the history of time and space. They pass the test of time because the conversation never stops; it is always converses in the contemporary world. Even when it is no longer possible to know the terms of the conversation in which the creative work was initially presented as a stimulus, it remains possible to recover the causality within a new conversation. It should be noted that these theories do not say that the artist must form the intention of seeing his work within a specific conversation but in any conversation, for that matter.

Similarly, the theory explains why works of art pass the test of space, or rather why communities that are quite distant from the original community of the creator can appreciate them. These theories explain the origin of art and artistic artifacts; they explain why artists want to talk about their works and discuss their meaning and symbol, as a vehicle of launching a conversation in the context of their creative output.

II. THE ARTISTIC CAREER AND THE STYLE OF THE ARTIST

Danny Castillones Sillada (From the Church to the Corporate to the Art World)

Danilo “Danny” Castillones Sillada is a contemporary Filipino Renaissance Man. He is a rarity in the current condition of the world, in which there is a primacy in the narrowing of human mind for the purpose of specialization. Unlike most men who have succumbed to the specialist inclination, Sillada is the embodiment of a Filipino who defies the existing trend. His multi-faceted attributes in humanities, as a Renaissance man, is identical with those of well-rounded historical figures during the Renaissance period in Europe. Sillada is a visual artist recognized in the Philippine art scene for his paintings and installation artworks, a literary writer who is into prose and poetry, a philosopher, whose writings are akin with existentialism, a first-rate performance artist, and also an art-critic.

Regarding his educational background, he has a bachelor degree in Philosophy, English Literature, and Theology that he acquired during his stay at the Queen of Apostles College Seminary and the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties. His post-graduate studies include Pastoral Theology in UST Ecclesiastical Faculties and an MBA in the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. As made evident in his bachelor and post-graduate degrees, Sillada does not have any formal education or training in the arts. Despite the lack of a fine arts degree, it is of much significance to point out that Sillada is already a well-known visual artist in the local art scene.

In an interview conducted with the artist, he mentions that his creativity and passion for the arts emerged at a very early age. As a child, roughly around five to six years old, growing up in Cateel, Davao Oriental, which is a very remote locality in Mindanao, his past time was spent imitating his father’s occupation in their family-owned furniture shop. His creative endeavors began at such an early age because the atmosphere of his malleable growing-up years favored the development of his creativity.

By the age of seven, he was already receiving tokens or gifts for his artistic creations. His teachers, friends, and relatives were the buyers of his decorative works. As he grew older, he began using watercolor. From around ten to sixteen years old, he was already financially earning through paintings. As he recalls, family, friends, and neighbors were those who customarily purchased his works and other artistic services, like graphic designs, commissioned portraits, and billboard designs. At the age of seventeen, he entered the Queen of Apostles College Seminary in Davao del Norte to become a priest. He became the head of the seminary’s art committee and was responsible for decorating the school with paintings and other graphic designs.

After finishing his preparatory degree in philosophy, he underwent theological studies at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in 1987, the year where he had his first group exhibit with the Groppu Di Belle Arte in the seminary. After obtaining his Bachelor in Sacred Theology and a post-graduate study in Pastoral Theology in UST, he was assigned by Cardinal Jaime L. Sin as one of the formators and faculty members of San Carlos Seminary College Department. During his stay at the San Carlos Seminary as Assistant Prefect of Discipline and faculty member, he finished a 10’ x 10’ mural that was commissioned to him by the Archdiocese of Manila in celebration of the 25th Episcopal Anniversary of Jaime Cardinal L. Sin, D.D. The mural is permanently installed at the San Carlos Seminary (Montilla, 1996). A few months after finishing the mural, he underwent vocational crisis and left the seminary in 1992.

After leaving the seminary, he worked as a young executive for three years in the corporate world. From 1994 to 1995, he was part of two group exhibitions, namely the Diwa ng Sining Art Exhibition in Art Center, SM Megamall and the Art Association of the Philippines, Museo ng Sining, Manila. During those years, he was only a part-time painter. However, were the critical years for Sillada, he never felt happy from his promising career as head of Marketing and Corporate Relations Office of Fortune Medicare, Inc. so he resigned from his job and pledged to become a full-time artist. That was in 1996 when he totally focused on his artistic career.

With no enough savings, Sillada struggled as a full-time painter for six months, in which he became financially dependent to his family. He experienced, for the first time, what it meant to live in poverty. (Until today, he remembers the first time he earned from his artworks after leaving the seminary and the corporate world). There was an instance when he was financially desolate that he only had one canvas in possession. Trying to make the most of what he had, he tried to paint a seascape in order to sell because he was in dire need of money, but only to be dissatisfied with the output of his work in the end. So what he did was to flip the canvas over and paint a new image on the other side, but this time he was thinking to create a masterpiece out of his gnawing stomach.

That particular historical image was the heart of a banana surrounded with leaves. He remembered it to be so realistic that one could almost feel or touch the dripping morning dew on the banana heart. The Heritage gallery in Megamall sold it for 14,000 pesos to Mrs. Gina de Venecia and Sillada received an artist’s fee of 6,000 pesos. The money he acquired for that painting was used to pay his monthly rentals and buy art materials. His artistic career would blossom thereafter.

In the same year 1996, he collaborated with Max Adlao, a senior artist from Davao, in creating a 6’ x 10’ feet mural commemorating the 400-year Christianization of the Philippines within the context of the ecclesiastical history of the Archdiocese of Manila. During this time, he was still a realist painter. This is manifested in the mural in which he tried to depict significant figures in the Catholic ecclesiastical history of the Archdiocese of Manila. In an interview conducted with the artist, he mentions that for the sake of categorization, he started as a painter in the vein of Realism.

In one of the earliest reviews about his works, the late critic Lorna Revilla Montilla stated, “there are strong indications that he paints more like a social realist, who sees the inverse side of things. He goes on a journey to his own private world like a lonely peregrine who suddenly finds a sordid landscape, which no one else except himself understands (Montilla, Philippine Daily Inquirer dated July 15, 1996).” The same year, 1996, he participated a group show of the Binhi Art Society with the former President Corazon C. Aquino as one of the guests of honor at the Eugenio Lopez Museum in Pasig City.

At present, Sillada already has nine one-man shows under his belt. For him each solo exhibit is like giving birth to a child. His first one-man show titled “The Metaphors of Dream & Existence” was held at the historic town of Caraga, Davao Oriental in celebration of the first Millennium Sunrise in 2000. His works were housed at the Gov. Leopoldo Lopez, Sr. Tourism Center from December 23, 1999 to January 2, 2000. In 2003 alone, he had three one-man shows. His second one-man show was a sequel to the first and was aptly titled “The Metaphors of Dreams & Existence II,” which was held at the Ayala Museum from September 13-29, 2003 in Makati City.

Then his third one-man show was titled “Cateel Centennial Art Exhibit,” which was held from October 13-November 1 at the Parish Youth Center in his hometown in Cateel, Davao Oriental. His 4th one-man show was labeled “Surreality,” held at the Philippine Art Gallery, White Plains, from December 12-January 1. In 2004, he had only a single one-man exhbit titled “Dreamweaver,” which was a sold out show at the Ricco-Renzo Art Galleries from April 27 – May 7 in Makati. In 2005, he had two one-man shows at the Podium and Art Center, SM Megamall respectively. His sixth was titled “Everything & Nothingness” that was exhibited for an entire month (May 28-June 28) at the Ricco-Renzo Art Galleries. A month later, he exhibited “The Collection” at The Podium from July 10-17. In 2006, he mounted two one-man shows namely “DC Sillada” at Art Center, SM Megamall, (April 18 – May 3, 2006) and “DC Sillada Convergence” at The Podium, Mandaluyong City (September 18 – 24, 2006).

Perhaps, among his solo shows, the “DC Sillada Convergence” (Sillada’s 9th one-man exhibit) is the most historic and star-studded event. Sillada was able to gather and organize different artists, local and abroad, from different fields and genres in a one-week event of fashion shows, poetry reading, musical and live art performances. Well-known artist Cesare Syjuco, literary iconoclast and multi-awarded artist, was one of the participants among other mainstream artists, poets, and musicians.

As made evident, Sillada had already nine one-man shows in a span of six years, which is quite a feat in the Philippine art scene. Along with it is the shifting and strengthening of his artistic style and technique, which is within the vein of abstract surrealism. In the interview, he states:

“I would call it abstract surrealism just for the sake of categorizing. It is beyond what one normally sees in the art scene. I guess you could say I have my own world. The elements in my works come from the random recollections of my subconscious.”

Sillada’s paintings are noticeably dynamic with vibrant colors. For this reason, Manny Duldulao, a Filipino art historian and author of several books, considers Danny Sillada as the foremost Filipino colorist in the country. Ironically, despite the vivacity of his paintings, one could see and feel the tension on his pictorial presentation.

His abstract surrealist paintings are gateways to a constructed world, where images from his subconscious manifest themselves. Sillada’s art is neither an escape from reality nor a façade to cover up something; rather, it is a world that reflects conflicts both internal and external life of the artist. His works are also cathartic expressions from the harrowing struggle of a tormented soul due the successive loss of his loved ones from tragic deaths and his sudden departure from his vocation to the priesthood. As the artist stated himself:

“I have my own reason to believe that every reality has its own symbols and meanings that represent the hidden truth of human existence. The biomorphic and dreamlike images that I have intricately woven in my art are direct and visible representation of those hidden realities within my inner self. It is for this reason that I offer myself as I strip my soul naked through the complex and perturbing imagery of my art. The dark shadow of my soul emerges through my creation like a sordid metaphor between dreams and reality.”

His paintings are autobiographical in nature; there are no pretensions or insinuations of self-importance but an artist’s bare-naked honesty in the portrayal of his inner world. As University of the Philippines professor and art critic Reuben Ramas Cañete affirms: “D.C. Sillada emerges as an artist of expressive potential and autobiographical force. His art represents not some farcical soulless object that injects its complicity within the arrogated space of the dictating decorator, but as a liberating device that delves the depth of his subconscious by exploring the relationship between symbolism and experience (monograph, 1999).”

III. CRITICAL APPROACHES

San Carlos Seminary Mural, 1992, by Danny Castillones Sillada

A. Biographical Approach

Danny Sillada’s artworks are autobiographical, as he believes that “art is life and life is art.” To do justice to Sillada’s belief, it is prudent to use Amy Tucker’s biographical approach to analyze the artistic phenomenon under study. To establish a biographical approach on Sillada’s works, it is of much importance to look at his personal life. For it is through the knowledge of the inimitable life of the artist, that is, the relationship between the artist and his artwork that the critical analysis could be understood in its entirety.

The artwork is the paradoxical communication of the incommunicable, which is considered in the Humanities as the artist’s inner world. Hence, it is inevitable that understanding of the artwork involves knowing the artist as a person, his passion, his struggles and beliefs that shape his creative life. The meanings, both implied and explicitly shown, found in an artwork are always affected by the life of the artist. As such, symbols, imagery, and themes have their source in the artist, for he alone is responsible for the creation of his art.

In the context of biographical approach, the materials to be used are “autobiographical papers, letters, and accounts by the artist’s contemporaries (Tucker, 2002, p.218).” Consequently, autobiographical essays and letters found in the artist’s personal blogs and writings in print and internet, an interview that occurred last September 30, 2006 with Danny Sillada, and the articles or reviews about him and his artwork in different publications are considered as the primary sources. These materials are used in order to ascertain the relationship between the creator and his creation, and the impact to the society where the artist lives and addresses his art.

According to the artist, he began as a Realist painter before he ventured into abstract surrealism. The Realistic Period of his artistic endeavor started since childhood to the time when he entered the seminary until he underwent crisis in his vocation when he was about to be ordained to the priesthood. His well-known paintings in the Realist mode are murals commissioned by the Catholic Church in the Philippines, particularly the Archdiocese of Manila, in which he had still close ties to the Church as a seminarian and later, as a Formator and faculty member of San Carlos Seminary. In fact, one of his murals was created for the 25th Episcopal Anniversary of Cardinal Sin, his first major artwork, which he created at the age of 30 (Mendoza, 2003). It was highly influenced by the calling he felt then. The other mural is about the 400 years Christianization of the Philippines, in which he collaborated with Max Adlao.

As stated in one of his journals, the mural was commissioned by a good friend of his, Bishop Tom Yalong, D.D., then auxiliary bishop of Archdiocese of Manila. In these commissioned murals, Sillada’s trademark on the vivacity of colors is already manifested in his early works. As a work of Realism, the figures and elements were painted realistically without any distortion or abstract illusions. All of the symbols found in these Realist artworks are fundamentally and unmistakably religious, albeit tinged with modern palette. It is important to that these paintings were created before he decided to pursue a full-time career in painting.

Sillada’s gradual breakaway from Realism occurred during his conscious realization to pursue an artistic career. In the interview conducted, he affirmed that his decision to engage full-time in painting was after he left his vocation to the priesthood and his resignation from his promising career as a young executive in the corporate world. This can be considered as the second-phase in his artistic career.

My Life in a Cage (Self Portrait), 1997, by Danny Castillones Sillada

A representative work of Sillada during this second phase of his artistic endeavor is the “Self Portrait: My Life in a Cage”, 50” X 40,” oil on canvas that was painted in 1997. In this particular painting, a very realistic portrait of the artist crouching naked with eyes closed while incarcerated in a bird cage. Outside of the artist’s cage are abstract forms, exuberant colors, and dreamlike imagery with ghostly figure of tiger. In this particular presentation, the elements of Realism and Abstractionism already began to hatch in a surrealist style and expression. The image of the artist is inarguably of Realist mode while the rest of the painting characterizes Abstract Surrealism. The Self Portrait is one of his most autobiographical works and , at the same time, the advent of his artistic style and technique. In the interview conducted, he states:

“All throughout my life, I felt like I’ve been in a cage. My view of human existence is that, we are all trapped within ourselves. We are trapped within our own needs, dreams, and beliefs. And the only way to break free is to go beyond from our own entrapment by finding creative freedom within ourselves.”

The painting portrays the young Sillada how he was trapped between two polarities, namely the Church and the corporate world. Outside these polarities is the quest for something metaphysical, which the artist had been seeking all his life. To break free or to fly away in search for that sublime freedom, as he emphasizes in the interview, is the liberation from the Church and the corporate world. Subsequently, his liberation is attained through his choice to pursue a full-time career as an artist. Hence, the second phase of his artistic career is characterized by self-realization to become an art iconoclast rather than a Man-of-God or a high-paying executive in the corporate. This is also the transition of his artistic style as made evident in the presence of both Realism and Abstract Surrealism in his aesthetics.

Sillada’s current art is the cross-over between realism and abstractionism. Therefore, as a surrealist, his aesthetics fall into the category of Abstract Surrealism. There are les elements of Realism, except some dimensional spaces that he consciously created to heighten his visual composition. Most of the artworks from the year 2000 onwards characterize the mature and unique style that is unique to Sillada. His works manifest surreal representations, biomorphic and highly symbolic elements. The vibrant color, a trademark of Sillada, is pervading. His art is developed and very much rooted in his inner world and his subconscious. Underneath all these dreamlike images and abstract forms is the naked soul of the artist. As stated by Sillada:

I believe that in understanding art in its totality, one must go beyond from what is given (the invisible), and ruminate through the hidden meanings (the invisible) of symbolic images that the artist wishes to present to the viewers. The latter, in this manner, can then immerse and empathetically feel the hands, the mind, and the heart of an artist, and percolate how his creation becomes a work of art.

An artist creating from autobiographical experiences, one has to ‘feel the hands, the mind, and the heart of Danny Sillada’ and ‘percolate how his creation becomes a work of art.’ For instance, the noticeable elements in his artwork are horizontal spaces and spherical figures. These are actually from his subconscious recollections of the place where he grew up, which is in Cateel, a remote town in Davao Oriental. According to him, when he was a child waking up early in the morning, he would see mountains and the horizon of the Pacific Ocean, and then see either the rising sun or the swelling moon from the Eastern sky. The space that he created reflects the vastness of the environment in his hometown. Other recurring elements are checkered cloth, the stones, and ribbon-like objects flowing in the atmosphere. His canvas is teeming with vibrant colors, a derivation from a lush vegetation of his childhood. According to him, the colors come naturally when he paints.

Another compelling and symbolic element in his artworks is the mask. This is a very personal symbol, which is frequently used by Sillada, since he figuratively wore a mask while he was still a seminarian studying priesthood. He avows when he says, “I had to put a mask, project myself as a man of God, and show that everything is okay despite having my own internal struggles and sacrifices. I had to pretend I’m okay even if I was hurting inside (Ong, 2006).” Sillada had to put on the mask despite the immeasurable pain he felt inside his soul. The death of his favorite niece and the suicide of his two siblings happened while he was serving God in the Church. The symbol of the mask appears in the following paintings: Beyond the Mask, The Mask in my Dream, Masked, A Tribute to Jim Carrey, Broken Vow, Joy and Sorrow, and Colored Mask.

The third phase of Sillada’s artistic career is characterized by his abstract surrealist approach. He is more recognized in the Philippine art scene during this phase in his artistic career. However, in order to understand his art in this period, it is important to know the artist as a person because the symbols and elements found in his current works are all reflections of his life and his environment. Hence, in this period, there should be an attempt, in the part of the viewer, to see and understand the personal life of the artist as an indispensable element in his art or vice versa. Sillada uses his own autobiographical experience to create art and his art, on the other hand, nourishes his creative life in finding purpose meaning of his existence.

The Search for Truth, 2006, by Danny Castillones Sillada

B. The Formalist Approach

Sillada’s "Search for Truth" is a painting from his 8th one-man solo in April-May 2006. Judging from the title, the work already gives the perspective in defining "the search." The subject, strategically placed at the center of the canvas gives the viewer a sense of stairway ascending toward an undefined sky, with one three-dimensional block seemingly missing from the top. This already gives the viewer the meaning of hope; hope that some sort of "truth" could be found. The three-cornered room elicits a feeling of an enclosure, with missing roof opening up to the sky. A red orange sun at the upper right portion of the canvas defines the cloudless sky, and a sense of time is seemingly established. Since the sky is painted with gradating color, from dark to lighter tones, it gives the viewer the idea that it is sunset. Truth is an abstract concept, reflecting the definition of abstract itself: an idea existing in thought without any physical existence. However, Sillada tries to capture this abstract concept with the use of color, light, and impressionistic use of strokes on his canvas.

The color has an important function in defining the artwork. In this case, Sillada uses warm colors, such as red and orange, to contrast to the cooler greens and violets. The three dimensional effect of the floor develops a sense of movement versus the stability of the defiled blocks. He makes use of the contrasting colors, like warm browns mixing with the cooler blues and greens, thus creating a sense of movement with a wave-like ground on the claustrophobic space of the lower part of the canvas. With such dynamism of visual composition, Sillada invites the viewer to look on the undulating movement of the floor, which contributes to the abstract definition of truth. The floor seems folded and woven, unconnected to the enclosed room with open ceiling, giving a sense of space to the viewer.

By using the metaphor of three-cornered room, Sillada returns to the tradition of most Western religious works by creating a three dimensional space within a two dimensional medium of canvas. The space within the room extends the perspective of the viewer, by capturing the one’s eye to the subject – the rising blocks to the sky. It is through these choices of color that Sillada contrasts the atmosphere, inviting the viewer to create a three dimensional space of his illusive world.

Aside from contrasting hue of colors, Sillada also uses tonal values in defining the abstract perspective of his subject. As discussed earlier, the sun in the background gives the viewer a sense of time. The red-orange sun, warm in terms of temperature, in contrast to a darkening blue-violet sky, signals the beginning of sunset. The direction of light is conveyed as coming from the foreground to the background, filling out the three-cornered room with the tones of green toward the sky. Shadows upon the boxes further contribute to Sillada's creation of three-dimensional space in a two dimensional medium, giving the boxes more "life," in a manner of speaking. Line is important in this piece: the straight and stable lines of the boxes contrast to the wave-like movement of the floor, rendering the viewer to search for the stability of the subject, contributing to the title itself as a search for an abstract concept, which is the truth, literally and figuratively.

Stability, however, is not within the subject, since the rising blocks give the viewer an illusion that they are placed rashly; therefore, they are unstable however close to the sky they may be. The only steady element is the setting sun in the open window at the farthest corner. Generally, "The Search for Truth" is an abstract work, but the texture reflects the impressionistic style of Matisse. Remarkably, Sillada’s color, tonal values, texture, and the impressionistic use of brushstroke to define the abstract concept of his composition depict ‘abstraction’ itself in ironic perspective.

Freudian theory is the popular methodology when it comes to psychoanalytical approach. For a critic who uses Freudian theory, the interpretation focuses on unresolved childhood conflicts and repressed sexual desires that are expressed in the latter part of the artist’s life (Tucker, 2002, p.221). Tucker asserts, “From a Freudian perspective, the artist’s obsession with the creative process is seen as a channeling or sublimation of sexual desires… The artist’s work is then examined in part, for what it reveals about the artist’s subconscious fears and desires (p.222).

Freudian theory is applicable to the artworks of Sillada. Several phallic symbols show up in his artworks. In fact, a great quantity of his recent paintings has the recurring phallic symbols. Examples of such paintings are Subliminal II, Subliminal Desire II, Searching, Mutiny, and Sleeping – all contain the male sex organ. Despite being colored differently, it is still evident in varied shapes. In addition, not only does he create phalluses in his paintings, there are also allusions to the female sex organ. His controversial painting titled Menstrual Period in Political History; it is satirically addressed to the cyclical political turmoil in the country, allusive to female’s menstrual period. Sillada carved a form that resembles a vagina on the surface of metamorphic rock - an open and uninhibited revelation of the artist’s repressed sexual desires. The sexual repression can be understood based on the artist’s background, who stayed in the seminary for a certain period, then came out later in his art, as a protest against the political situation in the country.

His natural father died when he was merely nine years old. He had a stepfather, which his mother married a year after his father’s death, who disliked his creative endeavor as fledgling musician at thirteen. He remembers, with nostalgic bitterness, how his stepfather smashed his guitar into the wall and how the young Sillada gathered the broken pieces with tears silently flowing from his cheeks. Until now, the childhood conflict against the stepfather could have not been resolved. Or if they were, a subconscious tension still exists. Second, the artist spent several years of his life as a seminarian. He was not able to explore his sexuality as a teenager up to his adolescent life, which might have had been repressed during his years in UST and San Carlos Seminary. Because of the repression, the artist might have had felt the sexual repression in the past, seeking liberation in his artworks. Even if he is now married and has three kids, there might still be lingering repressed sexual desires in his subconscious, which would come out every now and then on the surface of his paintings and other artistic expressions.

In an interview with Jacqueline Ong, Sillada explains the presence of phallic symbols in his paintings that “they arise out of repressed desires. It is a sign of power for the things that I have lost during my stay at the seminary (2006).” As an honest artist who strips the exterior coverings of his inner world, Sillada implicitly and explicitly confirms the veracity of the Freudian analysis in his works.

The Falling Stars, 2006, by Danny Castillones Sillada

D. Social Approach

Sillada’s “The Falling Stars” describes the bleak atmosphere of social issues in the country. He addresses the harsh realities of political and economic condition in the Philippines and the government’s war against the rebels in Mindanao, Sillada’s homeland. The painting as a whole depicts the Philippine flag with colors as if slowly fading into oblivion. At the center of the flag is a mask as if representing the Filipino people hiding with fear, confused amid the troubles and conflicts that pervade the daily lives of an average Filipinos. The mask with the fatigue shapes and colors more significantly represent the armed soldiers and guerilla fighters in the highlands, fighting each other and struggling for survival and supremacy. This seems to be the theme of the painting, as the mask somewhat mocks what the Philippine flag is supposed to symbolize unity, independence, and peace and order.

Hundreds of Filipino warriors and ordinary citizens were seemed to be faceless, nameless, and voiceless to speak out their fears and grievances. Right on top of this faceless mask, are straws of different colors that would mean that these Filipinos still have inherent goodness inside. The use of the flag’s colors symbolize, that despite the hopeless condition in the country, the rebels and the entire Filipinos have one thing in common in their struggle to live – peace, freedom, and patriotism. The smooth fading colors at the background can stand for the slow and careful neglect of such unity in the country. While the darkening and deepening of colors red and blue may imply the bloodshed and sacrifice in our destitute society. The two fallen stars, as if trying to escape the picture, further express this waning hope and ideals among the people. Hence, “The Falling Stars,” as the title suggested, symbolizes that a Filipino dream is elusive within the present condition of political system and governance of our political leaders.

Hatching Peace in my Troubled Land, 2003, by Danny C. Sillada

E. Semiotic Theory

According to Amy Tucker, “semiotic theory, which examines how signs and sign system derive meaning, has long been used by art historians to analyze the significance of images in art, most notably in the form of iconographic studies. Early iconographic analysis decoded the language of visual images by pointing to the literary texts or art-historical precedents to which these images refer (2002, p.252).” The semiotic theory in art criticism can be applied in Sillada’s artworks since his paintings are predominated by signs and symbols that can only become intelligible once deciphered in an appropriate manner. In applying the semiotic theory, it is important to establish how the artist is able to make use or appropriate certain signs that have underlying socio-cultural meaning so that the viewers who are knowledgeable of such shared meanings could properly interpret and understand the message being conveyed by the artist.

In another painting “Hatching Peace in my Troubled Land,” there are two important socio-cultural signs that he uses effectively. First, there is the presence of Sarimanok. This is a mythological bird that is found in the myths, oral traditions, and beliefs of the people in Mindanao. By using the Sarimanok, the artist is emphasizing that the Troubled Land he refers to in his title is his homeland Mindanao. Only a person who knows the Sarimanok and its underlying meaning could comprehend that the artist is indeed referring to Mindanao, his homeland, and not to some other place in the Philippines. As made manifest here, the artist effectively uses a socio-cultural sign, which is the Sarimanok, to reveal his message.

The second sign that he employs in the painting is the egg. The connotation of egg in various societies and cultures is birth and transformation. Relating it to the title “Hatching Peace in my Troubled Land,” Sillada is trying to say that there should be a naissance of peace in the war-torn and conflict-laden Mindanao. He is invoking and calling on for peace to happen in his homeland, and he uses the Sarimanok, which is a shared symbol in Mindanao’s diverse cultures and traditions, to reach his audience. In fact, the artist is already insinuating on how peace could be achieved in Mindanao through the mythical Sarimanok, as a messenger of peace and good luck.

As people who commonly understood the mythological Sarimanok, the Mindanaoans should strive for peace since they have a commonality that they share in their traditions. The image of the Sarimanok in Sillada’s painting alludes to a shared symbol amongst the people in Mindanao, who have fought against repressions for years. By using this shared sign, he summons the Mindanaoans as people who have something in common despite their various differences. The artist binds them together with the sign of the Sarimanok and calls for peace to happen in his bloodied homeland.

IV. REFERENCES:

Cañete, Reuben Ramas. “Danny Sillada and the Metaphors of Dreams and Existence Exhibit," a monograph on the Metaphors and Dreams exhibit. 1999-2000. Montilla, Lorna. (1996). Sillada Returns from the Landscapes of Nightmares. Philippine Daily Inquirer, Lifestyle section, July 15, 1996.